The Kombat Kids (MKX AU)
by gberryb
Summary: Cassie Cage hated kindergarten. It was always so boring. The same, loud and snot-nosed, brats trying to steal her toys everyday. Why couldn't she have someone more like her to play with? Be careful what you wish for little Cass.
1. Kindergarten

Cassie remembers that day like it was yesterday.

She remembers her dad's car, the smell of the upholstery and his after-shave.

She remembers the large, gloomy building covered in fading bright colors with the happy lady that showed them the way.

She remembers letting go of her father after crying her eyes out.

That was her first day.

Now, it's like her sixtieth day at kindergarten...and she hates it.

Jacqui Briggs, her best friend, sat in front of her. She was doodling a picture of Cassie's uncle Jax.

Jax was Jacqui's father and was really cool.

He has robot-arms and let Cassie drink coffee...which her dad never let her do.

Nevertheless, little Cass was bored and wanted to do something other than draw. She wanted to play, but Jacqui was doing something else.

Still bored and caught up in her own thoughts, she chewed her wad of bubblegum and blew a bubble.

Why couldn't there be someone like her to play with?

Almost as if the universe granted her wish, a familiar figure came through the door. He was tall and wearing a white robe with a funny hat. Cassie recognized him immediately, and so did Jacqui.

"Grandpa Raiden!" The two girls squealed with excitement. They dropped what they were doing and rushed towards the older man.

Cassie wrapped her arms around Raiden's leg and refused to let go. "Take me home!" She whined. "It's so boring."

"I'm sorry Miss Cage, but I am not here to take you home." Raiden sighed, prying her off of him. "I am here to enroll a new student."

"Huh?" Cassie and Jacqui frowned. They could never understand Raiden when he talked in his adult language.

"Here. Let me show you." He smiled, gesturing behind himself. "I would like you to meet Kung Jin. He is a cousin of Kung Lao."

"Wait." Jacqui frowned, pondering that bit of information. "Kung Lao is that guy with a scissor hat, right?"

Raiden couldn't help but chuckle. The little girl's innocence was quite amusing. "Yes." He smiled.

"No!" A squeaky, prepubescent voice argued. "It's a 'razor-rimmed' hat and he tosses it at people like you! He told me himself!"

Cassie's gaze narrowed as she zeroed in on the little boy who said that. He was scowling behind Raiden and attempting to pull his long black hair out of his face.

He was taller than all the other kids and visibly stronger too. There was no way he could be in kindergarten. First grade maybe, but definitely not kindergarten. Once again, Raiden's power had prevailed and broke the rules.

Cassie wondered how he did that all the time.

She'd like to try it.

"This is Kung Jin. He will be joining you today." Raiden sighed, pushing the little boy in front of him and leaving.

Kung Jin pouted, watching as the robed man left.

Just like everyone else.

They always left him.

At least, that's what he thought until the two girls started to show off their curiosity.

"Your hair is really pretty." Jacqui smiled, tugging gently on a stray strand of his black hair. "I wish mine was like yours."

"Your bow is super cool!" Cassie grinned, attempting to poke it. "My dad let's me shoot 'guns' sometimes, but I've never shot a bow before."

"Don't touch me!" Kung Jin cried, pushing both girls away from him. They fell flat on the ill-smelling, sun carpet.

Unlike most kids their age, Cassie and Jacqui got up without shedding a single tear. In fact, it almost seemed like they grew even more interested.

"You're weird." Cassie said, cracking her gum for the twentieth time that day. "You wanna play with us?"

"No!" He scoffed, crossing his arms. Cassie suddenly noticed the large bandages wrapped around his arms. They looked cool. "I'm waiting for my friend Takeda. Raiden said he would be here."

"Who's Takeda?" Jacqui asked. For added emphasis she raised an eyebrow.

"You'll see." The boy yawned, sitting down to count his arrows. Maybe during recess he'd play target practice with some of the other kids.

It's not like he'd hurt them.

His arrows were made out of rubber per Raiden's request.

"Okay." Cassie snorted with annoyance. She was starting to dislike this kid.

"Hey, let's go play 'Super Awesome Robo-guy and Ninja Warrior General'!" Jacqui giggled. Before her blonde friend could answer, she dragged her with surprising strength to a cracked storage bin.

It took Jacqui a moment to dig her way down to the bottom of the abandoned tub but, when she did, she certainly wasn't disappointed.

She handed Cassie the female action figure. It was blonde like her but had her hair tied back in a long braid. She was dressed in something that resembled a police outfit, but not exactly. It was more like a vest and tight pants with plastic dog tags.

The reason Cassie liked the 'ninja warrior general' was because it looked a lot like her mom. She didn't get to see her much and it made Cass sad but...her dad was always there. She liked her dad.

Jacqui grinned, positioning her action figure next to Cassie's. She began to make laser sounds as if she were shooting at the 'ninja warrior general'."Pew pew pew!" She smiled.

Cassie glanced over at the toy Jacqui held in her small hands. It was a cyborg-man complete with a cybernetic heart and eye. 'Super Awesome Robo-guy' had multiple winding dragon tattoos on his arms and wasn't wearing a shirt.

He probably wasn't the most appropriate toy for a couple of little girls.

He also seemed very familiar to Cassie.

She wondered where she might have seen a guy like that.

Just when they were starting to play, another guest decided to make an appearance.

Kung Jin was the first to notice the new arrival and burst into a grin. "Takeda!" He laughed, trotting over to his friend.

"Jin?" The shaggy-haired boy asked while gripping his father's hand tightly. Takeda didn't want to stay there even if his best friend was.

Kenshi sighed, adjusting his dark sunglasses. He had some business to attend to and needed to drop little Takeda off for a moment. Hanzo would pick him up later.

He kind of figured his son would have a problem letting go, but he was okay with that.

The apple doesn't fall too far from the tree.

"Go, Takeda." He sighed, gently pushing son in the direction of little Jin.

"But Daddy, I don't wanna go." Takeda whimpered. "I wanna stay home with mommy."

"Don't be such a baby!" Jin snorted, crossing his arms in annoyance. "Suck it up."

Takeda frowned and bit back tears, his shaggy black hair covering his eyes. It wasn't until he heard the struggling cries of a girl and another child did he stop his pity party. He glanced over towards the little desk where a girl sat there coloring.

It was Jacqui. After she had grown bored of the new arrival's entrance, she remembered her unfinished picture. The silver crayon needed to finish the masterpiece had been snatched up by another little kid, and she did not appreciate that.

She punched the kid in the face, grabbed the crayon, and went back to coloring.

She was happy...and that caught little Takeda's attention.

"Bye dad." He said curtly, heading towards the table. He didn't look back, cry, or anything. In fact, he completely walked past Kung Jin without noticing him.

The sudden change in behavior was...comical. Especially since it was directed towards a girl about his age.

Kenshi smirked, adjusting his sunglasses again before leaving. He remembered when he was like that. It was oddly refreshing for him...as a dad.

However, Takeda was thinking on a completely different note. Who was this girl...and why was she so interesting?

He sat down next to her and spied the 'masterpiece'. Just like most children's artwork it wasn't skillfully coordinated, but interesting no less. He thought it was beautiful, until he noticed one of her intricate braids.

"Who are you?" Jacqui asked. She was so caught up in drawing that she didn't notice the boy sitting next to her. "And what are you doing here?"

"My name's Takeda and I like your drawing. What's your name?" He asked, still very interested in her braids. At the ends of each one, there was a little scorpion clip. They looked a little like the insignia of the 'Shirai Ryu' or whatever that was. Hanzo said he'd be a part of that when 'he got older'.

Takeda hated when he said that.

"My name's Jacqui." She said plainly, focusing her attention back on the paper. She could have cared less who Takeda was. Her picture was much more important.

Kung Jin, watching from afar, stuck out his bottom lip in a pout. How could his best friend just ignore him to hang out with...a girl. Blegh. He didn't like girls at all. They were always so bossy and loud. Much like Cassie, who was trying to get his attention.

"Hey!" She yelled, waving her arms in front of Jin. Since she was shorter she had to jump so he'd notice her. "It's time for recess! Wanna come?"

"Huh?" Jin asked. "What's recess?"

"You get to go outside. It's really fun. Ya wanna come?" She asked, popping her bubble again. Kung Jin suddenly had an amazing idea.

"Ok. I wanna try something out." He smiled, following behind little Cass.

This would be fun...for him at least.

"Hold still!" Kung Jin scolded, forcing Cassie to sit down again on the grassy field. "I wanna play target practice with your gum."

"Nuh-uh!" Cass protested, standing up again. "You're gonna hit me! On purpose too!"

"No'm not." He said. "I promise."

The blonde looked the older boy dead in the eye. Neither backed down for what seemed like forever. They just continued to glare at one another.

"Okay." She scoffed. "But if you hit me I'll tell my dad."

"I won't. I'm a pro-fesh-unal." Kung Jin smiled, taking aim. He didn't know what a professional was exactly, but he knew they were good at something.

Kung Jin was good at shooting arrows. That had to make him a professional, right?

"Mmkay." Cass murmured through her large pink bubble. She decided to blow it large enough just to be one the safe side.

Jin sucked in a large breath and aimed. He focused hard on where he wanted it to go and let out his breath. With one gentle pluck of his fingers, the rubber arrow pierced Cassie's bubble and landed in the dirt a good few feet away.

The older boy smirked, feeling proud of himself. The blonde just gawked, her eyes wide in amazement.

"I wanna try! Please let me try!" She begged, retrieving the arrow and returning it to its owner.

Jin smirked again. Another brilliant idea forming in his head.

It's not like Cassie knew how to use the bow anyway.

"Gimme your gum and I'll let you play with it."

Cassie's eyebrows furrowed in contemplation. She really liked her gum since it was her favorite flavor but...the bow was pretty cool too. Which one was more important?

"Here." She sighed, passing Jin the sticky pink stuff from her pocket. "Now gimme the bow."

"Fine." Jin smirked, giving her the wood weapon before shoving the gum in his mouth.

The reason he wanted the bubblegum so badly was because he wasn't allowed to have it. For some reason, it always got stuck in his hair and Raiden would have to cut it out using scissors. That left his hair short and choppy...until Raiden permanently banned it from him.

Kung Jin sat down in the patchy grass. He watched at the little blonde struggled to even hold the bow. He blew a bubble, cracked his gum, and felt guilty. Why? He wasn't exactly sure but he felt like he was doing something wrong because he was just watching her.

Eventually, after having enough, he stood up and strolled over to her. "I can show you how to do it if you'd like." He offered in a yawn.

Cassie frowned but accepted his suggestions. Within a few minutes she learned how to pick off the kids sitting on the swings with relative ease.

That landed them both in a time-out.

Neither were ashamed of their actions and were actually enjoying themselves in the corner. They didn't have to worry about the other kids trying to get in on their conversation or snatch Jin's bow.

Over the span of thirty minutes, the two had nearly become best friends.

"Hey, do you have an older brother?" Jin asked out of curiosity. It would be fun to hang out with a boy his age that didn't flake out to go talk to a girl.

"No, I don't have any brothers or sisters." Cassie admitted, crossing her legs so she could sit indian-style. "How about you?"

"Nah." He yawned, copying Cass's sitting position. "Hey, do you wanna be my little sister?"

"Huh?" Cassie gawked. "Little sister?"

"Yeah!" Jin smiled. "We don't have any brothers or sisters. Do you wanna be my sister? It'll be fun!"

"Uhm...how will it be fun?" Cass asked, biting her bottom lip. She was confused. Weren't older brothers just big meanies?

"We can do everything together and kick other people's butts as a team. Doesn't that sound like fun?" He smiled, putting out his hand for a shake on the deal.

They'd be honorary siblings if she accepted.

Little Cass looked down at Jin's calloused hands from holding his bow. One was outstretched to her.

'Team'.

For some reason that word stuck itself deep inside of her and into her memory.

Team.

Cassie liked that word a lot.

She shook Jin's hand unaware of the future to come.

Some time had passed between their initial punishment and the teacher showed up to the corner with some new arrivals.

"What did you two do to get a time-out?" Cassie asked, eyeing Jacqui and Takeda.

The former looked unscathed while the latter seemed very bruised. Around his nose especially. Dried blood caked against his upper lip underneath his nostril. It didn't bother Cassie but she was curious, nonetheless.

"He cut one of my braids and I punched him." Jacqui said matter-of-factly.

"Yeah." Takeda smiled. "It was awesome."

"Yeah, but when you made the lady take a nap that was even more awesomer." Jacqui grinned, recalling the events.

"What?" Jin and Cass asked, their eyes widening in shock. Takeda made the teacher take a nap?!

How was that even possible?

"The lady came by to take me to the nurse but I didn't wanna go so I did this thing and she took a nap." The shaggy-haired boy grinned like an idiot.

Unbeknownst to Takeda, he had overloaded the teacher's senses which made her faint. He had no clue that he had just accomplished a feat that required much skill. Especially for a child his age.

"What happened to you guys?" Jacqui asked, noticing the scuffed state Jin and Cassie were in.

Right after they had made their 'brother and sister' pact, the two got into a fight over the last of the gum.

Jin now had a thick mess of the chewed substance in his hair and Cassie had a rubber arrow stuck in hers.

The two silently agreed that they hated each other.

Forever.

"Nothing." They replied simultaneously.

As soon as they spoke, the bell signaling school over sounded in the classroom. The four scrambled to their feet, ready to go home.

"So I said to him, there is absolutely no reason to freeze people's heads off when you can just punch 'em." Johnny Cage said to Hanzo Hasashi as they stepped into the room. Trailing behind them was Raiden and Jax sharing their own conversation.

"Daddy!" Cassie called out, charging at her father. Jacqui followed suit.

The two girls couldn't stop talking about their 'interesting' day of kindergarten. Kung Jin and Takeda, however, were glad to see their guardians.

"Takeda," Hanzo sighed, "What happened to your nose?"

"Jacqui punched me and it was awesome." The little boy retold, pointing at the girl in Jax's arms. She giggled and nodded much to her father's chagrin.

"Yeah! Only 'cause he cut one of my braids!" Jacqui laughed, motioning to the choppy length of hair. "But he made the teacher take a nap and then she gave us both a time-out!"

Hanzo gulped, looking down at little Takeda. If Jacqui was telling the truth...he'd have to have a long talk with Kenshi.

"Were you chewing gum?" Raiden asked Jin once he noticed the pinkish gunk trapped in his locks.

"Yes. But Cassie made me do it!" He cried, pointing at the blonde. She was hiding behind her father's leg but refused to give up without a fight.

"Nuh-uh!" She protested. "I gave you the gum 'cause I wanted to play with your bow! That was the deal."

The four guardians looked at one another in slight confusion.

Johnny, in his amusement, decided this was the perfect time to snap a shot of the discontented children.

"They only grow up once." He commented, as his finger pressed the button.


	2. Many Years Later

Cassie sighed, her blue eyes glancing over the gadget before her.

It was her father's phone...again.

He had dropped it 'accidentally' in the sink after a call with her mother. Judging by the smashed bits, he had thrown it and not dropped it. Cassie couldn't blame Johnny, after all, her mother could be a little overbearing.

"Jacqui...you wouldn't mind helping me with this?" She asked, looking over to the gadget 'wiz'. If anyone could get the files off the phone it would definitely be her.

"Sure thing." She smiled, taking the remains and disappearing for a few minutes.

This left Cassie alone in her thoughts.

Jin and Takeda were conversing away behind her. They were just doing some petty 'surveillance' which just meant looking at the screen doing nothing. Their constant chatter was giving her a headache.

She was just grateful she'd be gone within the next hour.

These people were driving her nuts.

Jacqui returned with all the files on a new phone. It looked exactly like the old one except it worked. She gave a sigh of relief and patted her friend on the back. "Thanks. My dad was freaking out about this thing."

"Why?" She asked. "Is there something important on there?"

"Hmm..." Cassie pondered, unlocking the phone in curiosity. "Lemme see."

A few minutes passed and Cassie couldn't find anything except for a few contacts and...some pictures.

Those looked promising.

There were only about thirty photos. Each one older, and different from the last.

The first picture was of Cassie and Sonya. It certainly wasn't recent since it was her as a baby.

That hit her hard.

She continued to flip through them, her eyes watering from the memories.

Her first birthday, her first fishing trip, her sweet sixteen, her first real fight and so on.

It was as if her father had decided to keep every individual memory of Cassie becoming an adult.

No wonder he had expressed such urgency over having his phone restored.

But then there was one picture left...an extremely old one too.

It was a little blurry but she was able to make out the four kids.

One was her and one was Jacqui but...it hit her like a freight train.

Jin and Takeda.

She grinned and put her hand over her mouth to silence her squee of excitement. The memories were suddenly coming back to her. She figured she had never met the two boys until the team had been put together.

She was dead wrong.

"Something wrong, Cassie?" Jin asked, seeing the shocked expression on the blonde's face. He wasn't sure how he had picked up on her attitude shift, but he had.

"I'd like you guys to see this picture. I'm sure it'll ring some bells."

THE END.


End file.
